Oral history interview with Ralph S Johnson, 2007 Feb. 20

Johnson was born in 1906 in Goodland, Indiana as the fourth in ten children. Johnson's uncle, Hartley Rowe, a graduate from Purdue who worked on the Panama Canal influenced Johnson's decision to attend Purdue. Johnson participated in ROTC, Acacia (Masonic fraternity), debate team, Kappa Phi Sigma (literary society) and boxing. His brother, Max Johnson, also attended Purdue in the Engineering department. He discusses how he met his wife. When he graduated from Purdue, he went to Marsh Field, California for pilot training during the Great Depression. After pilot school, he taught and worked in Muncie, Indiana with the Ball Brothers. He spent the summer of 1932 at the Chicago World Fair giving airplane rides. Johnson was offered job at Midway Airport in Chicago. He discusses the general public’s fear of flying at that time. When World War II began, Johnson was working as a test pilot for United Airlines. He discusses his achievements in aviation and his role in developing standards for flight and landing